President Michael D Higgins signs abortion legislation into law

President Michael D Higgins has signed the abortion legislation into law (Image: Gareth Chaney/Collins Dublin)

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President Michael D Higgins has signed the abortion legislation into law.

Mr Higgins had called the Council of State to discuss the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill.

In a statement, he said: "In accordance with Article 31 of the Constitution, President Michael D Higgins yesterday convened a meeting of the Council of State to discuss the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013.

"President Higgins has today signed the Bill into law."

The President had been encouraged by Government Ministers to send the bill into the Supreme Court to avoid any legal challenges.

The new laws will provide for a woman's right to an abortion if her life is at risk, including from suicide.

The legislation was drawn up amid a public outcry over the death of Savita Halappanavar, an Indian dentist who died in an Irish hospital in October last year.

She had been denied an abortion as she miscarried 17 weeks into her pregnancy.

Her widower, Praveen, claimed the couple had been told a termination was not allowed because "Ireland is a Catholic country".

In 1992, Dublin's Supreme Court delivered a judgment, known as the X case, ruling that abortion should be allowed if there was a threat to the mother's life, including suicide.

The case involved a 14-year-old rape victim who became pregnant and was refused permission by the Irish authorities to travel to the UK for an abortion.

Ireland was also under pressure after a European Court of Human Rights ruling that a woman in remission with cancer was discriminated against because she was forced to travel overseas for a termination.